Thousands of children in public schools across regional and rural NSW will have a qualified teacher in front of them when school returns this week with new data showing teacher vacancies falling to a four-year low.
Teacher vacancies in schools across regional NSW have fallen by 47 per cent - or 581 - since 2023.
There are now 654 teacher vacancies in 1369 public schools compared to 1235 in 2023. This means more qualified teachers in front of students.
Teacher vacancies in NSW public schools peaked in October 2022 at 3300, falling to 1294 teacher vacancies statewide, or 2 per cent of the workforce.
In the NSW Department of Education’s Rural South and West directorate, covering Broken Hill, Dubbo, Orange, Deniliquin, Queanbeyan, Griffith, Wagga and Albury, vacancies fell by 33 per cent since 2023. There are now 224 teacher vacancies compared to 332 in 2023;
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In the Regional North and West directorate, which covers Forster to Coffs Harbour, and inland including the Upper Hunter, and the Bathurst and Dubbo areas, vacancies have fallen by 47 per cent since 2023. There are now 118 teacher vacancies compared to 222 in 2023; and
State Education Minister Prue Car said it was a win for families across the state.
“The massive fall in teacher vacancies across regional NSW shows what you can achieve when you listen to our dedicated and hardworking teachers and value the life-changing work they do,” she said.
“Having a qualified teacher at the front of every classroom is vital to delivering improved academic outcomes for our students.
“These figures show the uplift in teachers’ pay – opposed by the Nationals and Liberals – means so many more of our students now have a teacher in their classroom, which can only lead to better outcomes.”
Ms Car credited the increase in staff to a large pay rise for public school teachers, along with making over 16,000 teachers and school support staff on temporary contracts permanent.
The Department’s Priority Recruitment Support model was also expanded from 79 to 110 schools, giving them targeted support to fill vacancies, with mobile phones banned in all public schools. Addressing workload by allowing additional time to roll out a new curriculums have also been rolled out across public schools, improving mandatory training and professional learning requirements, providing access to AI assistance, providing additional administrative support in schools.
